On July 7, 2017 argenx (Euronext & Nasdaq: ARGX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a deep pipeline of differentiated antibody-based therapies for the treatment of severe autoimmune diseases and cancer, reported that its abstract covering the complete data set from its Phase Ib study of ARGX-111 in patients with advanced cancers over-expressing the MET protein was selected as part of the Best of ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) program at the 3rd Singapore Society of Oncology Annual Scientific Meeting in Singapore (Press release, arGEN-X, JUL 7, 2017, View Source [SID1234519763 Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo! The differentiated design of ARGX-111 to enhance killing of advanced tumor cells offers a really exciting approach to treating patients with MET-driven cancers," commented Nicolas Leupin, Chief Medical Officer of argenx. "We are pleased to see preliminary anti-tumor activity and a consistently favorable safety profile, which was the goal of this expansion study. These data offer a compelling path forward to further examine in a Phase 2 study the activity of ARGX-111, which we are looking to strategically partner."
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The new data from the Phase Ib study continue to show evidence of anti-tumor activity with
ARGX-111 at all dose levels and across different indications. Partial response and stable disease were observed, respectively, in one and nine of 24 heavily pretreated patients with MET-positive malignancies, both MET-gene-amplified and with MET overexpression. Treatment-emerging adverse events were reported for all patients, but none of the grade 5 toxicities were related to ARGX-111. The poster presented at Best of ASCO (Free ASCO Whitepaper) can be accessed from the "Downloads" section of the argenx website.
About ARGX-111
ARGX-111 was developed for the treatment of patients with certain solid tumors that overexpress c-Met, a receptor associated with tumor growth and metastasis, or tumors that are mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor, or MET, amplified. ARGX-111 employs the SIMPLE AntibodyTM, NHance and POTELLIGENT technologies to drive tissue penetration in the body and to increase its ability to enhance ADCC. ARGX-111 binds to c-Met with high affinity and does not cause dimerization of the c-Met receptor, which differentiates it from other, earlier attempts to direct antibodies against c-Met. Dimerization is a process which can result in receptor activation, undermining the intended therapeutic effect of antibodies blocking hepatocyte growth factor, or HGF, binding to c-Met. By blocking both HGF-dependent and independent c-Met activation, ARGX-111 is able to block c-Met receptor activation which could trigger survival, proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. In order to further examine the activity of the product candidate in a Phase 2 study, argenx is actively looking for an appropriate collaboration partner.